Masters of the Universe: The Movie
by Brimstone
Summary: This is my retelling of the MOTU movie featuring more of the original MOTU characters and some new characters of my own.
1. Chapter 1

**__**

Masters of the Universe: The Movie.

By Richard Taylor

CASTLE GRAYSKULL.

The Sorceress was totally surprised as a huge flash of light lit up the shadows of the main throne room of Castle Grayskull. The Sorceress span around to see a troop of Skeletor's Doom Troopers race from a portal made of swirling lights. The Sorceress instantly knew what was happening. Quickly the Sorceress raised her hand and sent the first wave of Doom Troopers flying in all direction.

The Sorceress knew she could hold off the Doom Troopers for as long as she needed until He-man could arrive. With each wave the Sorceress sent flying more of the mindless drones would rush through the portal. And each time she sent them flying the she saw something else come through the portal. The Sorceress could see several Evil Warriors among the Doom Troopers led by Skeletor's second in command Evil-Lyn. The instant the Evil

Warriors cleared the portal Evil-Lyn raised her crystal ball and shot bolt of magic towards the Sorceress. As the Sorceress was distracted by Evil-Lyn's magical onslaught she failed to spot Webstor leap from the floor and scuttle along the wall and down behind her. The Sorceress barely had time to turn as Webstor leaped at the Sorceress and clamped a metal collar around her neck.

The instant the Sorceress felt the collar snap shut her magic drained from her body. Suddenly without her magic the Sorceress was overwhelmed by the hordes of Doom Troopers and Evil-Lyn's magic. Evil-Lyn then walked up to the fallen Sorceress and as she looked down at the guardian of Grayskull in disgust she reached in to her belt and pulled out a communication device and switched it on.

"Lord Skeletor." said Evil-Lyn. "We have succeeded in capturing Castle Grayskull and the Sorceress."

"Well done Evil-Lyn." said Skeletor's voice from the device. "Make sure Grayskull is fully contained. I don't want any surprises while we take over the Royal Palace. Skeletor out."

Evil-Lyn then put the device back in to her belt and turned to her warriors.

"You heard what Skeletor said make sure the castle is secure until Skeletor arrives." Evil-Lyn then turned to Scare-Glow. "You are the only one that has any power to attack the Elders of Grayskull. Find them and disable them. The last thing we need is the spirits messing things up for us."

"Yes Madam." said Scare-Glow as his body began to transform in to fine mist that glowed with an eerie green light and disappeared. 

"Now that we have the castle secure from any inside attacks Trap-Jaw take some Troopers and secure the castle from out side. Shoot anyone that comes near."

"But what if it's one of our own men?" said Trap-Jaw.

"It won't be you fool." snapped Evil-Lyn. "Our warriors will be using the portals to come in here."

Trap-Jaw then gave Evil-Lyn a salute and turned to fulfill her orders. As Trap-Jaw left the room Evil-Lyn turned to the Sorceress.

"Pick her up." hissed Evil-Lyn and both Webstor and Beastman dragged the Sorceress to her feet. "Now that you are the prisoner of Skeletor's army you will be treated as one." Evil-Lyn then reached up and ripped the Sorceress's falcon headress and flung it to the ground causing the Sorceress's long black hair to fly everywhere. Evil-Lyn then looked over to Webstor and Beastman. "Strip her."

"You can't!!" screamed the Sorceress as she struggled as the two evil warriors tore at her clothes.

"Yes I can." hissed Evil-Lyn. "And while you wear the Collar of Arbuk you are powerless to stop me. But don't worry Skeletor has sent you something to wear." Evil-Lyn then held out her hands and a brilliant silvery white robe appeared. The Sorceress instantly recognized it as the Shroud of Argus. Instantly the Sorceress lashed out with a stiff kick aimed at Evil-Lyn's midsection. Evil-Lyn easily avoided.

"You bitch!" hissed Evil-Lyn as she struck the Sorceress with the back of her fist. The power of Evil-Lyn's blow was so great that both Webstor and Beastman lost their grip on the Sorceress and let her fall to the ground. The Sorceress looked up at Evil-Lyn as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Pure hatred the likes she had never felt before raced through her body.

"Is that all you've got?" spat the Sorceress. "Are you so cowardly that the only way you can attempt to attack me is while I am disabled by the Collar of Arbuk." The Sorceress then spat some blood in to Evil-Lyn's face. Instantly Webstor and Beastman drove their fists in to the Sorceress's body driving her down to the floor.

"STOP!!!" commanded Evil-Lyn. "Skeletor doesn't want a mark on her." Evil-Lyn glanced down at the Sorceress and smiling she calmly wiped the blood from her face.

"I have contacted the Heroic Warriors." growled the Sorceress. "This attack will soon be over."

After hearing that the smile on Evil-Lyn's face grew even wider.

"You foolish cow." said the Sorceress. "Even now the great Heroic Warriors are falling under the power of Skeletor's forces. Now get dressed." Evil-Lyn then chucked the Shroud of Argus at the Sorceress. A defeated Sorceress then got dressed as Evil-Lyn prepared Castle Grayskull for the arrival of Skeletor.

**__**

THE CITY OF ETERNOS.

King Randor felt that the royal hall had never been emptier. His son Prince Adam was away halfway across Eternia on an important mission for the king in distant city Toucee. His daughter Princess Adora which he had thought lost for nearly twenty years was found on the planet Etheria by Adam but their renewed family didn't last long as Adora had to return to Etheria to help free that devastated world from the deadly Horde.

Randor placed a reassuring hand on Queen Marlena's hand and smiled a weak smile at her.

"Please don't worry about Adam." said Marlena surprising Randor by recognizing Randor's concerns. "Adam will be all right."

"You know me so well." said Randor. "But Adam has been away for nearly two months. And Toucee had just recovered from its war with Dalbek. It's still a dangerous place to be at the moment."

"Adam has faced worse dangers here." said Marlena. "We all have. Each day we face attacks from Skeletor and his men or others like him who want to take over Eternia."

What Marlena said made Randor's heart lighten a bit. Randor was about to say something when the air in front of them burst in a hail of sparkling light. Randor quickly grabbed his sword from the side of his throne the instant he saw three humanoid shapes form in the light.

Randor cut down the first Doom Trooper that stepped from the light. Marlena had already sounded the alarm and reached for her hand blaster and began shooting at the Doom Troopers that swarmed the room. The battle was fearce as both King Randor and Queen Marlena fought off Skeletor's Doom Troopers until Tri-Clops, Jitsu and Whiplash burst from the light. Tri-Clops instantly raced for King Randor and swung his sword at the ruler of Eternos. Randor barely saw the sword coming as he battled three Doom Troopers. 

"Look out!" called out Queen Marlena. Randor span around and brought his sword up and blocked Tri-Clops's blow. The forces invading the palace overwhelmed the King and Queen and soon both Randor and Marlena were defeated.

"Tie them up." commanded Tri-Clops as the doors to the throne room shook under the blows of the palace guards as they tried to break in and help the king and queen. Whiplash and Jitsu shoved Randor and Marlena back in to their thrones and tied them down.

Out in the corridor leading to the throne room several guards led by Fisto battered on the huge wooden doors. Suddenly blaster fire flew over their heads.

"By the Elders." said Fisto. "How the hell did they get behind us."

Pushing through the guards to face the oncoming Doom Troopers.

"Keep trying to get to the king and queen." ordered Fisto. As the guards continued their attempt to break down the doors to the throne room Fisto grabbed a couple of guards and raced in the oncoming Doom Troopers. Fisto drove his massive guntleted fist in to the first Doom Trooper he came to. The Trooper was thrown back such force that it took out several other Troopers behind it. Fisto then span around and punched another Trooper in the back of the head as it attacked one of the guards at the doors. As Fisto span around the doors to the throne room burst open. More Doom Troopers stormed out of the throne room and behind them Fisto saw Jitsu the man he once called brother but now they were bitter enemies. Before Fisto could do anything several Doom Troopers leaped on to Fisto and started to pummel him to the ground with the butts of their rifles.

Fisto bravely fought the Troopers off and as he stood he was shot in the back. Spinning around as he fell Fisto saw that Jitsu had a rifle in his hand ready to fire again. Jitsu pressed the rifle's trigger again and a bolt of blaster energy struck Fisto in the chest.

The last thing Fisto heard was Tri-Clops telling Jitsu to stop firing, as Skeletor wanted the Heroic Warriors alive then everything went black.

From his position high in one of the many watch towers that surrounded the city of Eternos Mekaneck could see total chaos everywhere. The citizens of Eternos were trying to flee the swarm of Doom Troopers that appeared from nowhere and all at once. Ram Man and Man-E-Faces were trying to safety escort the citizens through the gates until a flash of light exploded next them and they were attacked by dozens of Doom Troopers.

"Where in the name of the Elders did they all come from?" said Mekaneck in total astonishment.

"I don't know." said Teela. "But I do know that there is no way they could have got past the cities defenses without inside help."

"We don't know that." said Man-At-Arms silently watching the chaos below. "Just look at how they are getting in to the city. It looks like they're using some kind of transporter that our defenses cannot detect."

Teela turned to look at her farther.

"Then what should we do?" asked Teela.

"We have to sound a retreat." said Man-At-Arms reluctantly.

"You can't be serious." said Teela in total shock. "We can't let the city fall in to the hands of Skeletor!"

Man-At-Arms knew exactly how his daughter felt.

"I like the situation less than you." said Man-At-Arms softly. "But we can't do anything if we're all captured. We have to retreat to someplace safe and work out a way to destroy Skeletor's new weapon. Then we can return and recapture the city."

Teela's heart sank as she realized that her farther was right. Reluctantly Teela reached for her com unit and was about to activate it when the air around them filled with bright light. Instantly Teela, Mekaneck and Man-At-Arms grabbed their weapons and were ready to face oncoming swarm of Doom Troopers. The battle seemed to rage on for eternity as the three Heroic Warriors battled the Doom Troopers. Suddenly Teela was struck from behind by a blow from one of the Troopers rifles and fell to one knee. Through blurred eyes Teela watched the battle as if it was in slow motion. She saw a Doom Trooper turn her way. Teela was to dizzy to do anything as the Trooper aimed its rifle at her head. The Trooper was about press the trigger when it's chest suddenly erupted in a shower of sparks and bloody entrails. Teela then felt someone pick her off the ground. Teela weakly turned her head to see that Man-At-Arms was dragging her to a waiting Wind Raider with Rio Blast waiting in the pilot's seat his weapons blasting away at any Doom Trooper that came near.

"We have to stay." said Teela weakly as Man-At-Arms lifted her in to the Wind Raider. The Wind Raider's engines roared to life and took off in to the air. Teela slowly lifted her head and looked over the side at the city that had been her home most of her life and what she saw brought tears to her eyes. The Doom Troopers were ripping down the royal flags of King Randor and replacing them with flags that contained the image of Skeletor's evil face. Then everything went black.

**__**

SNAKE MOUNTAIN

Skeletor sat on his throne that was made of bones listening to the reports that were coming in from his invasion forces. 

"Report." commanded Skeletor as Sonik his communication expert walked in to the room.

"We have received reports from both Evil-Lyn and Tri-Clops." said Sonik. "Castle Grayskull and the city of Eternos are under our control. The portals to Etheria have been closed off blocking the Horde from interfering."

"And King Hiss?" asked Skeletor.

"We have them pinned down in the valley of Dakotash." reported Sonik. "There are requests from some of our men to hunt down the Heroic Warriors that have escaped and...."

Sonik was cut off as Skeletor slammed the base of his havoc staff on the ground.

"No!" said Skeletor. "The Heroic Warriors are not to be harmed. Order the men to track them down and capture them. For years the Heroic Warriors have been a thorn in my side. Now I want them to witness how futile it was to oppose me."

"The Heroic Warriors have the loyalty of every citizen of Eternia." said Sonik "It will be difficult to find them if they go in to hiding."

"Do not worry about that." said Skeletor. "I have already taken that fact in to account. Activate the Holocron."

Instantly the Holocron burst to life showing a gigantic image of Skeletor through the thousands of Holocron receivers situated around Eternos.

"Castle Grayskull and the city of Eternos has fallen to me." Skeletor's voice boomed over the Eternian countryside. "He-man and the Heroic Warriors are now considered to be outlaws. They are to be captured alive. If anyone has information about the whereabouts of these outlaws must step forward. If you do not then evey day I will execute one hundred citizens until they are found."

**__**

TWO MONTHS LATER

Prince Adam along with his pet tiger Cringer had just returned from Toucee after helping them rebuild their city after its long war with the city of Dalbek.

"Cringer do you find something wrong here." said Adam looking around at the strangely silent landscape.

"Erm no." replied Cringer. "Except that I'm hungry after all the traveling we've done."

Adam sighed.

"But we haven't seen any merchants traveling along this road." said Adam. "That must seem strange even to you."

Cringer looked up and sniffed the air then turned to Adam.

"Well if its people you want then there's some over next hill." said Cringer. "I just hope they have some food on them."

As both Adam and Cringer got closer to the hill they heard faint voices from the other side. Quietly Adam crept to the top of the hill and peared over the edge. Adam saw ten of Skeletor's Doom Troopers they were next to a burned out Battle Ram. The Troopers were dragging a small net sack containing a small humanoid along the ground.

Adam quickly slid down the hill towards Cringer. "What did you see?" asked Cringer once Adam returned.

"I saw some of Skeletor's Doom Troopers. They were attacking someone." 

"Then we have to go and find someone to help out?" asked Cringer hoping that Adam wouldn't want to change in to He-man.

"My thoughts exactly." said Adam then he pulled out his Sword of Power and held it high.

"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!....." a burst of light exploded from the heart of the sword and washed over Adam transforming the prince of Eternia in to the mighty warrior He-man. He-man then held the sword across his chest and called out. "I HAVE THE POWER!!!!"

He-man then pointed the sword at Cringer and a bolt of brilliant light shot out and struck the tiger. Instantly Cringer's muscles began hardening and growing stronger as he started to take on the characteristics of his ancient ancestors. Cringer then let a deafening roar as the mystical armor of Grayskull began to form over his mighty body. Once the light had faded Cringer was no more and Battle Cat remained in his place.

**__**

CASTLE GRAYSKULL

The Sorceress watched helpless as a huge portal of light burst open and Skeletor escorted by several Doom Troopers stepped through and in to the great hall of Castle Grayskull. All around him the Evil Warriors and the Doom Troopers fell to one knee as Skeletor walked passed towards the mystical throne that the Sorceress once proudly sat on as the guardian of Grayskull.

"What have you to report?" Skeletor asked Evil-Lyn as he sat in the throne.

"Sir we are still having trouble finding the last of the Heroic Warriors." said Evil-Lyn not looking in to Skeletor's eyes. "No matter how many people we terrorize they simply remain quiet as to the location of He-man and the Heroic Warriors."

Evil-Lyn saw Skeletor's hand tightening around his havoc staff. It sent shivers down her spine as she saw Skeletor's rage boiling under the surface.

"No matter how much evil you cause the people of Eternia." said the Sorceress from her cage of pure energy. "They will always be more loyal to He-man and the Heroic Warriors than they will ever fear you."

Evil-Lyn flinched as Skeletor shot straight out of the throne and stormed over to the Sorceress.

"You know nothing of fear." growled Skeletor. "I am fears master. I control it now I'm going to show you just what fear can do."

Skeletor then raised his hand to the energy barrier that surrounded the Sorceress flashed with a brilliant purple light. The Sorceress was helpless as the Shroud of Argus drained her lifeforce through the barrier and in to Skeletor's body.

**__**

Eternos 

"Let me go!" screamed the captive of the Doom Troopers. "I have powerful friends."

"Silence!" snarled one of the Troopers. "Skeletor wants to see you."

"Why me?" asked Gwildor as struggled inside the net. "I've done everything Skeletor asked of me."

"He wants to make sure that you don't do anything for anyone else." said the Trooper. "Plus he has heard that you have been helping some of the Heroic Warriors escape capture."

Gwildor gulped as he realized that he had been found out.

"W-w-what's going to happen to me?" asked Gwildor. 

"If you're lucky Skeletor may kill you." said the Trooper. "If not you may spend all your life in the dungeons of Snake Mountain."

The instant Gwildor heard the name of Snake Mountain he started to struggle harder to free himself.

Suddenly a terrifying roar rang through the air. The Troopers turned to look in the direction from where the sound came from and saw He-man sat atop of Battle Cat his sword drawn ready for battle.

The Troopers dropped Gwildor to the ground and raised their weapons.

"Remember Skeletor wants all of the Heroic Warriors alive." said the Trooper. "But he never what condition they had to be in."

The Troopers then pressed their triggers and fired their deadly blasters at He-man.

Battle Cat leaped in to action and dodged the deadly blaster fire and raced towards the Doom Troopers. As Battle Cat's powerful legs cleard the distance between the warriors He-man climbed on to the back of Battle Cat and leaped over the blaster fire and drove his feet in to the first of the Troopers driving it back in to the others. Quickly He-man kicked the rifle out of a Trooper's hand and brought his sword around and sliced the nearest Trooper in half. As sparks and blood rained down over He-man he jumped to his feet and kicked a Trooper in the guts. He-man quickly grabbed the Trooper's rifle and span around and blasted another Trooper then he turned to see how Battle Cat fairing against the Doom Troopers. Battle Cat was taking care of himself as he used his claws and teeth to tear apart any Trooper that came to close. As He-man and Battle Cat finished off their opponents more blaster fire rang through the air. He-man and Battle Cat looked up to see that they were totally surrounded by Doom Troopers each had their rifles aimed at the Heroic Warriors.

He-man knew they outnumbered him and Battle Cat but he still raised his rifle and was about to pull the trigger when the sky was filled with more blaster fire which destroyed all the Doom Troopers.

He-man looked up to see where the blaster fire had come from and saw Rio Blast, Teela and Man-At-Arms come out of hiding.

"Thank the Sorceress you're still alive." called out Man-At-Arms as the trio of Heroic Warriors made their way down to He-man and Battle Cat.

"Where have you been?" asked Teela as she hugged He-man.

"What's going on?" asked He-man more than a little puzzled. "Why are Skeletor's forces so far from Snake Mountain?"

Teela, Rio Blast and Man-At-Arms looked at each other before Rio Blast turned to He-man.

"Then you haven't heard." said Rio Blast.

"Heard what?" asked He-man.

"Skeletor has taken over both Castle Grayskull and the city of Eternos." said Man-At-Arms. "Somehow he managed to create device that can bypass our defenes. Skeletor's troops appeared out of nowhere. We were unable do anything against them."

"We were betrayed." snarled Teela.

"We have no proof of that." said Rio Blast.

"Then how do you explain why we're the last of the Heroic Warriors that are still free." said Teela. This got He-man's attention immediately.

"What do you mean?" asked He-man. 

"Skeletor has ordered his troops to hunt down the Heroic Warriors." explained Man-At-Arms. "He wants them alive for some upcoming event. The four of us here are the only one's that can stand against Skeletor."

"Then we have to find....." He-man was cut off by a cry for help from the net the Troopers were carrying. The Heroic Warriors instantly ran over to the net and He-man used his sword to cut the net open to reveal a small humanoid with long pointed ears ans shaggy red hair and beard. 

Gwildor looked up to see He-man standing above him.

"Oh! Great first Skeletor sends his Doom Troopers to capture me and now he has his Faker finish me off." said Gwildor closing his eyes awaiting the death blow from the sword in He-man's hand. He-man looked down at the cowaring Gwildor puzzled.

"I'm not Faker." said He-man. "You're safe now."

Gwildor slowly looked up at He-man then to Rio Blast, Teela and Man-At-Arms.

"Oh thank the Elders." said Gwildor excitement in his voise. "I thought the last thing I was going to see was the dungeon walls of Snake Mountain."

Gwildor then leaped up and threw his short arms around He-man. Smiling He-man gently disengaged Gwildor from his leg.

"Tell me why was Skeletor's men after you?" asked He-man.

Gwildor was about to answer when Man-At-Arms pulled out a small scanning device and looked at it.

"I suggest that we leave this area as soon as possible." said Man-At-Arms. "Because there's a troop carrier heading this way fast."

"But where can we go?" asked Teela. "Skeletor has located all of our bases we have nowhere to hide."

"We have to go somewhere or we'll end up looking at the walls of a dungeon." said Rio Blast. All of the Heroic Warriors turned and looked at Gwildor who was besides Battle Cat admiraing Battle Cat's armor.

"I have never seen armor crafted in such a fine way." said Gwildor as he ran his hand over the dark red armor that covered Battle Cat's powerful body. "Who made it? What's it made out of?"

Battle Cat tried to ignore Gwildor as best as he could until Gwildor reached up for the helmet that covered his face.

"I wouldn't do that!" growled Battle Cat bareing his razor sharp fangs for Gwildor to see. Gwildor instantly snapped his hand backwards. "I think you're wanted." 

Battle Cat then nodded to the Heroic Warriors.

"You wanted me?" asked Gwildor as he waddled over to He-man, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Rio Blast.

"Yes." said He-man. "There's a troop carrier headed this way. If they find us here they'll surely radio for reinforcements so we need a place to hide. Do you have anywhere we can go?" 

Gwildor's eyes lit up with excitement and fear as he realized what He-man had asked.

"O-o-of cause." said Gwildor clapping his tiny hands together. "I know just the place. My workshop isn't to far from here."

"Lead the way." said He-man.

**__**

CASTLE GRAYSKULL

Skeletor glared at Karg as he entered the great hall of Grayskull. Karg looked nervous as if he had bad news. Skeletor hoped that his commander of his Doom Troopers didn't as so far all he heard was bad news conserning the capture of the Heroic Warriors Rio Blast, Teela and Man-At-Arms.

"Were is Gwildor." hissed Skeletor already suspecting that Karg had not captured him.

Karg looked up from his position on one knee.

"Master I beg forgiveness." pleaded Karg. "But Gwildor was rescued by the Heroic Warriors. My troops were unable to stop them."

Skeletor's eyes flared with total fury.

"And your troops let them both go!!" shouted Skeletor slamming his havoc staff on the ground. "Your orders were to bring them to me!"

"But Master there is something you should know." said Karg quickly reaching in to his fur lined cape and pulled out a small holographic projector activated it. Instantly a small image of He-man and Battle Cat destroying Skeletor's Doom Troopers appeared. Skeletor could no longer contain his fury and he lifted his hand and bolt of sizziling energy shot out from his fingertips and destroyed the device in Karg's hand.

"You must have known that He-man would show up sooner or later." said Evil-Lyn careful to keep any signs of sarcasum out of her voice.

"But why now?" asked Skeletor. "For nearly two months there has been no sign of He-man. Even while his city is in trouble He-man was nowhere around. But now that I'm so close to my prize he decides to return and torment me again!"

"You could use this to your advantage." said Evil-Lyn. "The people of Eternos believe the same thing. I suggest that you play on the fact that He-man hasn't been around for two months. Make them believe that he has abandoned them."

Slowly Skeletor's mood began to lighten as he thought about what Evil-Lyn had just said.

"Sonik activate the Holocron." commanded Skeletor. Immediately Skeletor's master of communication activated the Holocron. Skeletor's giant image burst to life projected from every receiving devise across Eternos.

"The people of Eternos the war is over!" said Skeletor. "The last of the Heroic Warriors have been captured, King Randor has passed his crown over to me and even He-man himself has seen fit to abandon the people he has sworn to protect in their time of need. Therefore when the moon rises on the third day from now I shall become the supreme ruler of Eternia and all it's people."

**__**

GWILDOR'S WORKSHOP

The first thing that the Heroic Warriors saw as they entered Gwildor's workshop was the mess. Every surface was covered in junk.

"You know there was a time when you could leave your doors unlocked." complained Gwildor as he locked the heavy metal door behind the Heroic Warriors almost trapping Battle Cat's tail in the process. "Those days will return. I'm sure of it now that He-man is here." 

"That's what we hope as well." said Teela. "By the way why was Skeletor's forces after you?"

"For this." said Gwildor unlocking a safe that he hid under one of his many workstations. Gwildor then reached in to the safe and pulled out a shiny cylinder shaped object a little over thirty centimeters in hight its base was covered in tiny keys with one large red key. At the bottom the top of the device was covered in prong shaped objects of differing lengths.

"The Cosmic Key." said Gwildor his chest swelling with pride.

"A what?" asked Teela looking at the strange object. "What does it do and why does Skeletor want it?"

"The Cosmic Key does exactly as the name suggests." Explained Gwildor. "It can open a portal to any point in time or space."

Teela gasped in surprise and anger.

"So you're the one who helped Skeletor!" snarled Teela as she grabbed Gwildor around the neck.

"H-h-how was I suppose to know that she was from Snake Mountain." said Gwildor gasping for air.

Fearing that Teela was about choke the life out of Gwildor Man-At-Arms reached over to Teela and gently removed her hand from Gwildor's throat.

"Let him speak." said Man-At-Arms. "Just who came from Snake Mountain?"

"I-i-i don't know who she was but she was brilliant looking." said Gwildor.

"Sounds like Evil-Lyn." said Teela.

"I thought she was intrested in my work." said Gwildor. "But all she wanted was the prototype for the Cosmic Key. Now Skeletor wants me dead before I can make a second one."

"But he was to late." said He-man nodding to the second Cosmic Key.

"Yes I had already made the second one before Evil-Lyn came here." said Gwildor. "I hid it in my safe so that she couldn't find it."

"With this key." said He-man picking up the Cosmic Key. "Will it be able to get us past Skeletor's defenses and in to Castle Grayskull?"

"Yes. It can do everything the prototype can do." said Gwildor. "But we can't use it there."

"Why?" asked He-man.

"Because if we use this key near the other one it will warn Skeletor that we are there." explained Gwildor.

"We have to find a way in to Grayskull if we're to have any chance in defeating Skeletor." said He-man.

"And fast." said Man-At-Arms looking up from the device in his hands.

"I'm picking up signs of Skeletor's troopers heading this way."

He-man turned to Gwildor.

"Do you have a backdoor to this place?" asked He-man.

"Yes." said Gwildor getting to his feet and room and pulled open a curtain to reveal a large door made out of stone. "This leads to the tunnels that lead under Eternos."

"Get going I'll distract them!" growled Battle Cat as the doors began to be pounded from the outside.

Gwildor quickly opened the door that led to secret the secret tunnels. The doors to Gwildor's workshop burst open and as the Doom Troopers stormed in to the room Battle Cat leaped in to action. Battle Cat knocked down the first Troopers that came in to the room and tore their throats out. More Troopers stormed the room and Battle Cat swiped at them with his claws. Once Battle Cat was sure that He-man and the Heroic Warriors had safely escaped through the tunnels Battle Cat reared up and leaped through the door over the Troopers and a surprised Karg and raced off through the rocks and away from Gwildor's workshop……

To Be Continued. 


	2. Chapter 2

**__**

Masters of the Universe: The Movie. Continued.

GWILDOR'S WORKSHOP

Karg was taken totally by surprise as Battle Cat leaped from Gwildor's workshop and knocked him over. The Doom Troopers aimed their blasters at the fleeing Battle Cat.

"Leave him." snapped Karg as some Troopers helped him to his feet. "Can't you see that its a diversion. The others are in there. Get in there before they escape!"

The Troopers lowered their weapons and stormed in to the workshop.

Karg watched with a perverse satisfaction as his squadron of Doom Troopers tore apart Gwildor's crowded little workshop.

"Sir there seems to be no sign of them." said the captain of the Doom Troopers.

"I can see that" hissed Karg. "There must be a secret way out of here. Use your sonic grenades on the walls."

The Trooper nodded and reached in to his weapons belt and removed two small round objects.

"Stand back." ordered the Trooper as he tossed the grandees to the back wall of workshop. The instant the grenades hit the wall they exploded forcing the wall to crumble in to a dusty heap revealing a hidden passageway.

Karg cursed under his breath and grabbed his communicator and opened a channel to Sonik at Snake Mountain.

"Sonik please inform Skeletor that the Heroic Warriors and Gwildor have escaped. We are about to follow." said Karg. Then he turned to his Troopers. "Lets go!"

Karg then stepped in to the tunnel followed by the Doom Troopers and they gave chase after He-man and the Heroic Warriors.

**__**

CASTLE GRAYSKULL

The first thing He-man noticed as he, Teela, Man-At-Arms, Rio Blast and Gwildor crept through the secret passageway he knew of and in to the great hall of Grayskull was how quiet it was.

"Be careful." whispered He-man. "Duncan scan the area."

Man-At-Arms immediately grabbed his scanner and swept the area.

"Rio Blast secure the area." said He-man. "We'll need your blasters just in case of trouble."

"I'm not picking up any of Skeletor's men." said Man-At-Arms. "But they could be blocking my scans."

"I can't believe that Skeletor would leave the throne room unguarded." said Teela.

"We'll split up then." said He-man. He-man then looked up at the throne and saw the Sorceress trapped behind a wall of shimmering energy. Immediately the Heroic Warriors raced over to the Sorceress.

When they reached the Sorceress they were shocked to see that the Sorceress was no longer the eternal beautiful being that she was, now she looked like she had aged rapidly. He-man swung his sword at the force field that surrounded the Sorceress. But his blow harmlessly bounced off.

"You can not break through the force field." said the Sorceress.

He-man turned to Gwildor as Man-At-Arms began inspecting the force fields control box for a way to free the Sorceress.

"Can you use the Key to free the Sorceress?" asked He-man. Remembering that the Cosmic Key could open a portal in time and space.

"I think I can." replied Gwildor. "I just need to find the right frequency."

"Do it and hurry." said He-man. "With the Sorceress free we can recapture the castle."

"With every day Skeletor is in control of Grayskull his evil power grows." said the Sorceress. "He is almost ready to open the eye of Grayskull. This must never be allowed to happen."

"Why what is the Eye of Grayskull?" asked He-man.

"The Eye of Grayskull is the most powerful source of magic on Eternia." said the Sorceress. "It is destined to open on the day you were granted your powers. You and She-Ra are to receive the powers of the universe. Because only with the power in your hands you can bring peace to the universe. However if Skeletor manages to receive the power when the eye opens then he will be able to remake the universe in to his domain and there will be no way to stop him."

He-man looked up in total horror as he realised what Skeletor could do with the power that the Sorceress had just described.

"Gwildor how are you doing?" asked He-man.

"I've got most of the frequencies," said Gwildor franticly tapping away at the keys on the Cosmic Key. "But something thing is stopping me from getting the last of them."

He-man span around to the others.

"Skeletor knows we're here." said He-man. "We may not have much time."

The Heroic Warriors immediately moved in to position as the doors to the great hall burst open and a swarm of Doom Troopers stormed in to the hall quickly followed by Skeletor and Evil-Lyn.

"Do you think I would not notice your entrance in to my fortress?" snarled Skeletor.

"Grayskull is not yours. And it will never be." called out He-man.

"Look around you." said Skeletor triumphantly. "Your allies are gone. The city of Eternos is under my control, even Castle Grayskull is finally mine. Along with the Sorceress."

He-man turned to the Sorceress, as every second past the Sorceress grew weaker. He-man had to distract Skeletor long enough for Gwildor find the frequency for the force shield around the Sorceress with his Cosmic Key.

"This is between you and me." said He-man. "It has always been."

"No!" shouted Skeletor. "It is over between us. The only thing for you to do is witness me receiving the power of the cosmos once the Eye of Grayskull opens."

Evil-Lyn watched silently as He-man and Skeletor argued with each other. Suddenly she heard the faint sound of Skeletor's Cosmic Key. Walking up to Skeletor Evil-Lyn pulled at Skeletor's cape to reveal the Cosmic Key. The lights on the key were flashing brightly. Closing her eyes Evil-Lyn allowed her mind to travel the space between herself and where the Heroic Warriors were hiding.

"The little worm has another key!!" screamed Evil-Lyn as she saw Gwildor tapping away at his Cosmic Key.

Skeletor instantly grabbed his key. Seeing that Evil-Lyn was right Skeletor turned to his troops.

"DESTROY THEM!!!" commanded Skeletor. "AND BRING ME THE KEY!!!"

Instantly the Doom Troopers raised their blasters and began to fire.

He-man quickly leaped to one side as the blaser fire rained down on them. The Heroic Warriors instantly leaped in to action as Rio Blast stepped out from his hiding place. The laser cannons attached to his body snapped out and began blasting away at the troopers.

Man-At-Arms and Teela grabbed their blasters and began firing in to the crowd of Doom Troopers.

"That went well I thought." said Man-At-Arms as He-man raced to their side.

"I thought so." said He-man as he took the blaster that Man-At-Arms offered him. "How's Gwildor getting on?"

Gwildor looked up from his key.

"I'm almost finished." called out Gwildor over the sound of blaster fire. "I just need a few more minutes."

"We don't have minutes!" snapped Teela. 

"What can I do?" asked Gwildor. "If I get even one tone wrong the Sorceress could end up being part of the walls."

Man-At-Arms assessed the situation, with every Doom Trooper that was destroyed several more took its place.

"Then get us out of here!" called out Man-At-Arms.

"We can't leave the Sorceress here." said He-man.

"We have no choice." said Man-At-Arms. "If we stay we will be killed."

"Duncan is right." called out the Sorceress. "Eternia needs you alive."

Gwildor punched in a code on the Cosmic Key and a portal opened before him. Instantly Teela ran for the portal and leaped through, Man-At-Arms next ran for the portal and turned at the last minute as he realized that He-man wasn't behind him.

"Come on." called out He-man.

He-man stared at the Sorceress refusing to leave when Rio Blast raced up to him.

"He-man you have to go." said Rio Blast. "I'll protect the Sorceress as long as I can."

"You are a true hero." said He-man. He then turned and ran for the portal. He-man scooped up Gwildor as he ran past.

Gwildor dropped the key as He-man jumped in to the portal. Rio Blast continued to blast away at the oncoming Doom Troopers. Evil-Lyn saw the Cosmic Key, seeing Rio Blast in the way of the key Evil-Lyn raised her hands and blasted Rio Blast with a bolt of magic. As Rio Blast fell Evil-Lyn raced for the key. Evil-Lyn leaped at the key just as a grapple hook shot out of the portal and snatched the key from her grasp. Evil-Lyn watched helpless as the portal closed.

Evil-Lyn stood snarling at the space where the portal had once been. Rio Blast slowly got to his feet. Evil-Lyn span around and charged at Rio Blast. Rio Blast quickly aimed one of his lasers at Evil-Lyn but was struck by a energy bolt. As Rio Blast was thrown through the air he saw Skeletor glaring at him, his Havok Staff glowing an eerie red light.

**__**

EARTH

The portal opened high above swampy ground. Teela was first to emerge, using her superior agileity she avoided landing in the swamp. The next to come through the portal was Man-At-Arms, then He-man and Gwildor. Once the portal vanished Teela began to scout the area. While He-man and Man-At-Arms began to scan their surroundings.

"Do you scan any of Skeletor's troops." said He-man.

"No." replied Man-At-Arms. "It looks like wherever Gwildor sent us it was far enough away from Skeletor's forces."

"Speaking of Gwildor where is he?" asked He-man.

Suddenly they heard the gargled cry of Gwildor. Following the noise they found Gwildor head down in the mucky water of the swamp. Quickly He-man grabbed hold of Gwildor's kicking legs and pulled him from the water.

Setting Gwildor on his feet the Thenubrian shook his head and sprayed mud from his gills.

"Oh thank the Elders." gasped Gwildor, then he looked up to see He-man and Man-At-Arms smiling at him. 

"What's so funny?" called out Teela as she came back through the trees.

"Its these two." said Gwildor then he turned to He-man. "You try breathing with clogged gill slits."

"What have you found?" asked He-man turning to Teela.

"The area is clear of Skeletor's forces." reported Teela. "Though I don't know where we are exactly." 

The Heroic Warriors turned to Gwildor. Gwildor knew exactly what they were about to ask and he nervously smiled.

"I didn't have time to punch in any co-ordinates. So I typed in a random code." said Gwildor.

Teela instantly lashed out and grabbed Gwildor by the neck.

"Listen you Thenubrian worm." hissed Teela. "Our friends are in danger. You best have a way back for us."

Gwildor couldn't speak as Teela choked the life out of him.

"Teela calm down." said He-man as he gently removed Teela's hands from Gwildor's throat. "We're all concerned about the other's. I'm sure Gwildor has a way back for us. Right?"

"Of cause I do." said Gwildor rubbing his throat. "I'm not stupid. Even though the codes I typed in were random I built in a homing key. All I have to do is tap the red key and we'll be back in Castle Grayskull."

"And where is the key?" asked Man-At-Arms.

Gwildor grabbed the grapple hook hanging from his belt.

"Its right here." Gwildor held up the grapple hook, but the hook was empty.

**__**

CASTLE GRAYSKULL.

Skeletor watched as Rio Blast was being tortured by electronic shocks that were coming from Trap Jaw's weapons arm.

"You must know where they went to." hissed Skeletor. "Tell me or I'll have Trap Jaw fry every part of your body." 

Rio Blast screamed in pain as the electric shocks raced through his body, but he still didn't speak.

"This is growing tiresome." said Skeletor. Suddenly the doors to the throne room opened and Sonik walked in.

"What have you to report?" demanded Skeletor.

Sonik walked past Rio Blast and Trap Jaw to kneel in front of Skeletor.

"I have scanned the entire surface of the planet. There is no trace of Cosmic Key activity anywhere."

Skeletor erupted in fury.

"Find them you fool!" snapped Skeletor. "I cannot risk He-man ruining everything for. Not when we are this close to the opening of the Eye of Grayskull. If the people of Eternia find that he is still alive they will have hope. I will not allow them to have hope."

"If I may interrupt." said Evil-Lyn. "The people of Eternia do not need to know that He-man is alive."

"Explain?" said Skeletor.

"Tell the people He-man is dead, that way they will be too distracted with their grief that they will not stand in your way, and your troops can search for the Heroic Warriors." said Evil-Lyn.

"I like your idea." said Skeletor before turning to Sonik. "Activate the Holocron, I wish to speak to the people of Eternia."

Sonik saluted and left for his communications station.

"The people of Eternia will never believe your lies." said the Sorceress from her force shield.

Skeletor slowly turned to her and smiled.

"So she decides to speak." said Skeletor mockingly. He then got up and walked over to her. "I do not need everyone to believe me. The Eye of Grayskull shall open in two days time, by then my troops will have found He-man and his allies. And then no one will be able to stop me from ruining the universe."

To Be Continued ....


	3. Chapter 3

**Masters of the Universe: The Movie Continued**

**_Evergreen Forest _**

**__**

Battle Cat was near the point of collapsing as he raced through Evergreen Forest. Every time he had stopped to rest out of nowhere a squadron of Doom Troopers would suddenly appear out of their portals and Battle Cat was forced to flee once more. So far Battle Cat had been lucky as he raced through the trees as so far there had been no sighing of Doom Troopers or Evil Warriors. Up ahead Battle Cat saw a clearing in the trees. Battle Cat knew that this area held the fortress of the Wigets, the little people who lived in the forest. The fortress was in a secluded area where very few people travelled or even knew about. Pushing his tired limbs as much as he could Battle Cat headed towards the Wiget's fortress. As Battle Cat drew closer he noticed that no one was standing guard on top of the turrets that ran the length of the Wiget's fortress. Not even Squinch the Wiget's bravest and sometimes most foolish member could be seen. Battle Cat knew that something must have been wrong for Squinch to leave his post. Even as tired as he was Battle Cat still prepared himself for the possibly of action. Once he reached the gates of the Wiget fortress he looked up and caught a glimpse of light reflected off something. Looking closer he spotted that it was a large piece of mirror angled in such a way that anyone behind the wall could safely see over the other side without having to venture on to the turret.

'_Clever idea._' thought Battle Cat. 

Suddenly Battle Cat saw a figure dressed in red flash past reflected in the mirror, and then he heard a voice at the gate. Battle Cat knew that it didn't belong to any Wiget.

"Go away!" called out the muffled voice. Battle Cat thought he recognized the voice. "There are no Heroic Warriors here! They are-um- elsewhere fighting your kind."

Instantly Battle Cat recognized the voice.

"Orko!" growled Battle Cat. "Let me in!"

"B-B-Battle Cat?" replied Orko. "How did I really know it is you?"

"How about I rip thought this door and show you!" snapped Battle Cat.

Battle Cat heard the locks on the gate snap open and the gate begin to open. Battle Cat didn't wait for the gate to fully open, he leaped through the opening almost crushing Orko behind the gate.

"W-W-What are you doing!?" cried Orko as he pushed the gate away from him.

"I had to make sure that you were who I thought you were," replied Battle Cat. Battle Cat looked around at the deserted fortress then back to Orko. "Where are the Wigets? And what happened to you?"

"The Wigets are hiding in their mines just in case Skeletor's forces stumble on this place," replied Orko as he quickly locked the gate. "As for me, I was returning from Trolla. I didn't even know that there was this much trouble. Not until I was captured by Skeletor's Doom Troopers and taken to the Royal Palace."

"How did you escape?" asked Battle Cat.

"I along with several other Heroic Warriors was being transported to Snake Mountain," explained Orko. "On the way there the transport carrier was attack by a group of Birdmen led by Raven." Battle Cat had heard about Raven. Raven was the student of Stratos and was being trained by Stratos for the day when Stratos would stand down as guardian of Avion. Battle Cat let Orko continue his tale. "After Raven and the Birdmen defeated the Doom Troopers guarding us we fled to here where we have begun to form a resistance to Skeletor's control. Raven suggested that the Wigets abandon their fortress and hide in the mines while we worked from here to free our comrades."

Battle Cat was amazed at the amount that had gone on in the last two months. Battle Cat filled Orko in on how after two months away he and Adam had stumbled up on Gwildor and how it was Gwildor's Cosmic Key that had allowed Skeletor his victory.

As Battle Cat and Orko were talking Raven along with Mekaneck, Ram Man, Man-E-Faces and Sensear walked up to them.

"Sensear has picked up a communication from Skeletor's troops," reported Raven. "It looks like they have lost all traces of He-man, Man-At-Arms, Teela and the one called Gwildor."

"That's good news then." said Orko.

Raven shook his head.

"No its not," said Raven. "Those four pose more of a threat to Skeletor than we do. With most of the Heroic Warriors captured there will be no one to stand in the way of Skeletor's rage. Weather they know what has happened or not it is likely Skeletor will punish the innocent people of Eternia for their escape.

**_Earth: The Everfields Cemetery_**

**__**

The day was slowly turning to night as Kevin and his long time girlfriend Julie walked through the cemetery. Kevin was uneasy Julie had been silent ever since they had left the graves of Julie's parents. Julie's parents had died in an accident when their plane had crashed nearly a year before. Julie was always quiet after their visits to the cemetery but this time the silence was different. The lights of the cemetery switched on and Kevin took a deep breath and prepared to speak.

"I'm leaving," said Julie breaking the silence. "This last year has been torture for me. Everywhere I go everything I do reminds me of my parents."

Kevin knew that Julie felt a great guilt over having chosen to stay with him rather than going with her parents on that fated night.

"Julie you know that if you had gone with them wouldn't have changed a thing. It may have made the situation even more tragic." said Kevin.

"But I could have done something," said Julie. "If I had gone with them instead of saying I needed to study so that I could spend the time with you they may have taken a different route or not taken the plane at all."

Kevin placed a comforting arm around Julie.

"Sometimes you have to except that there's nothing you can do to turn back time," Kevin said sadly. "Believe me if I could I would have also made sure that your parents didn't make that journey. And that I wouldn't be losing you now."

Julie looked in to Kevin's eyes and even though it was hurting her almost as much as the loss of her parents she still felt the need to leave the place she called home. Julie bent her head up to kiss Kevin on the cheek when she spotted a flash of light from the corner of her eye.

"Did you see that?" asked Kevin staring in the direction of the flash.

Julie nodded.

"What do you think it was?" asked Julie.

"I don't know but I'm checking it out." said Kevin.

Julie was about to protest and suggest that they call the police first but Kevin had already started dragging her down the path towards where the flash had come from.

**_Nearby_**

**__**

He-man, Man-At-Arms, Teela and Gwildor had made their way from the swamp land which they had landed near after their search had failed to uncover any sign of the missing Cosmic Key and had arrived in a large wooded area. The trees that surrounded them were nothing like he had come across making He-man think that Gwildor's key had taken the further than they had first believed. Teela was ever vigilant as always, Man-At-Arms had one of his scarcely devices in his hand and kept scanning the area for any sign of danger, Gwildor was slowly following, he kept stopping to examine every twig, leaf and bush to satisfy his scientist nature. Teela was of cause growing annoyed with this and kept letting small curses escape her lips.

"A true Captain of the Royal Guards." said He-man with a smile as Teela walked out of ear shot.

"I don't know where she gets it from." replied Man-At-Arms.

Suddenly there was a noise of something large moving through the trees ahead of them. Quickly going on the defensive He-man drew his sword and Teela and Man-At-Arms raised their blasters. The bushes in front of them parted and a large four legged creature stepped in front of them. Realizing that there was no threat from the creature the Heroic Warriors put their weapons away.

"What is it?" asked Teela.

"I have no idea," said Man-At-Arms as he scanned the creature with one of his devices. "Its not recorded in any of my databases."

Suddenly the creature let out a loud mooing sound. The Heroic Warriors once again went on the defence but the creature lowered its head and began to graze on the grass at its feet. Gwildor carefully walked up to the creature.

"I think its trying to communicate with us," said Gwildor who then let out a sound similar to the one made by the creature. "If I can find its native language it may know where we can find the key."

"We don't have time for this!" snapped Teela as Gwildor continued his attempts to communicate with the creature.

"She's right," said Man-At-Arms holding up a cronometer. "We only have a few crontons until the moon rises over Grayskull."

"Then we should split up," said He-man. "That way we can cover more ground."

"Agreed." replied both Man-At-Arms and Teela.

"We'll meet together in a couple of hours," said He-man. Has everyone got their comm units?" Teela and Man-At-Arms checked their comm units. "Good then lets get going we haven't got much time to save Eternia."

The three Heroic Warriors then split up to begin their search for the Cosmic Key leaving Gwildor behind with the creature. Then as if realizing they had left him behind Man-At-Arms called back to Gwildor.

**_The Everfields Cemetery_**

**__**

Kevin and Julie soon reached the spot where they had seen the flash of light. In one of the many flower beds lay a large smoking crater. As Kevin leaned in closer he saw something shiny in the heart of the crater.

"What is it?" asked Julie.

"I'm not sure." said Kevin as he began to reach in to the crater.

Julie placed a hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"Be careful," warned Julie. "You don't know what that thing is."

"Look at the size of this crater," Kevin said half to himself. "Whatever it is it must have fallen from a plane or something."

Kevin grabbed hold of the object and was surprised by how cold the object felt despite the amount of smoke coming from the crater. As Kevin removed the object from the crater his finger brushed along one of the many keys that covered its surface. The object let out a noise like a musical note. Instantly Kevin's face lit up with excitement.

"Wow!" gasped Kevin as he began to press more keys and more notes flowed from the object. "You know what this is? Its one of those new sympathizers from Japan. I have to take this to the school and crank it up with the amplifier and see just what this baby can really do."

Julie couldn't help but share Kevin's excitement at finding the mysterious object, but still she had to be the voice of reason.

"We have to hand it in," said Julie. "Someone may be looking for it."

"Doubt it," said Kevin. "If it fell from a plane then they are long gone." '_And foolish to let something as beautiful as this out of their grasp._' Kevin silently added. "And besides whom would I hand it in to? The groundskeeper would just keep it for himself and sell it for his next bottle of booze. The police wouldn't be much better; they would keep it on a shelf until no one claimed it and then hand it back to me. So I should just by pass the middle man."

Kevin then flashed Julie one of his award winning patented smiles, only this time it didn't work.

"Ok I'll hand it in to the police," said Kevin admitting defeat. "But please let me try it out on our equipment at the school this could be the only time to play something like this."

"Ok," said Julie willing to let Kevin have his little bit of time with the strange musical instrument. "But first thing in the morning you have to hand it in to the police."

"Agreed." replied Kevin.

**_Outside Robbie's Ribs_**

**__**

Man-At-Arms had spotted lights shining through the trees. As he got closer he discovered that it was a large building with a red and white neon sign that said 'WELCOME TO ROBBIE'S RIBS!' Man-At-Arms guessed that it was some sort of eating establishment. Man-At-Arms's guess was proven correct as he saw to people that looked very similar to Eternians walk from the building eat pieces of food from a large tub in their hands. Man-At-Arms quickly grabbed a scanner from his belt and scanned the people as they walked past his hiding place. Man-At-Arms looked at the read-out and slapped his head with the palm of his hand.

'_How could I have been so stupid,_' thought Man-At-Arms. '_They're Human. That means we are on Earth.'_

Man-At-Arms knew all about Earth, it was where Marlena Glenn the Queen of Eternia and mother of Prince Adam and Princess Adora had been born. He was about to reach for his communicator to tell He-man all about his discovery when he felt a hand land lightly on his shoulder.

Instantly Man-At-Arms's soldier's instinct took over and with a blur of movement Man-At-Arms had removed his blaster from it holster and span around ready to press the trigger. Standing in front of the blaster's barrel was Teela, her eyes unblinking. Relieved Man-At-Arms holstered his blaster.

"Don't ever sneak up on a soldier on a stake-out." said Man-At-Arms as Teela knelt beside him.

"I wasn't sneaking anywhere," said Teela. "I can't help it if you were so lost in thought that a squadron of Horde Troopers could have crept up to you."

"I was not lost in thought," said Man-At-Arms. "I was studying our surroundings."

Teela looked up to see what Man-At-Arms was studying.

"All you were studying was the menus," said Teela. "Really farther how could you think about food while our friends are in danger?"

"Dying of hunger will not help our friends," said Man-At-Arms slightly insulated. "And besides I survived the siege of Arigon for seven days and seven nights....."

"With only a flask of two day old water and a handful of combat rations," Teela finished for Man-At-Arms. Man-At-Arms grunted and returned to his watch over the Robbie's Ribs, and then Teela spotted something. "Hey look over there."

Man-At-Arms looked over to where Teela was pointing and saw a couple kissing in the back seat of a four wheeled vehicle.

"I've been doing that long before you were even born." said Man-At-Arms.

Teela rolled her eyes.

"Not that," said Teela. "That!"

Man-At-Arms looked past the kissing couple and in to the bushes behind. There he saw familiar long pointed ears and the wild red hair.

"Gwildor!" muttered both Teela and Man-At-Arms.

"Come on let's see what that little swamp rat is up to." said Teela.

Gwildor had seen the couple in the vehicle, but he wasn't interested in their activities, the focus of his attention was on the large tub of food that sat between them and the front seats. Licking his lips Gwildor grabbed the grapple hook that he had used to snatch the Cosmic Key from Evil-Lyn's treacherous grasp. 

'_I hope you are better this time._' thought Gwildor.

Gwildor carefully aimed the grapple hook and pressed the trigger. The hook shot through the air and over a branch then down towards the tub. The instant the hook came in to contact with the tub its pincers clamped down on the tub without disturbing the couple. Gwildor tugged on the line a couple of times to make sure it was secure then he yanked the line and the hook pulled the tub out of the vehicle over the branch and in to his waiting hands. Instantly Gwildor pulled the lid of the tub off and began examining its contents. Gwildor had just pulled out a rib and was holding it to his lips when Man-At-Arms and Teela burst in to his hiding place.

"Holding out on us?" said Man-At-Arms as he grabbed the tub of food from Gwildor and began passing some of the food to Teela. The three quickly eat their food and Gwildor looked at the rib in his hand.

"I wonder why they put the food on these little white sticks?" said Gwildor.

"They're called rib bones." answered Man-At-Arms.

Gwildor suddenly looked ill.

"This used to be an animal?" said Gwildor shocked at the idea.

"What's wrong?" asked Teela. "You never eat meat before?"

"We Thenubrians do not kill our animals for food," said Gwildor sounding slightly insulated. "No matter how good it tastes."

Teela and Man-At-Arms shared a smile and then Teela looked at her cronometer.

"We're wasting time here," said Teela. "We still have to find the Cosmic Key."

Stirred in to action both Man-At-Arms and Gwildor got their feet and followed Teela away from Robbie's Ribs.

**_Avion_**

**__**

_".....With He-man's death all hope has abandoned the people of Eternia, the Heroic Warriors have fallen and when the Eye of Grayskull opens I shall fulfil my destiny!!"_

Raven looked down up on the huge holographic image of Skeletor generated by the holocron in the centre or the city.

"What I wouldn't give to hear something different!" snapped Raven. "I wish we could go down there and shut that blasted thing off."

"That is just the thing we cannot do," said a voice from behind Raven. Raven turned to see Stratos walking up to him, only this was not a Stratos that anyone would recognize. To avoid being captured by Skeletor's forces Stratos had changed his appearance, he had shaved off most of his beard leaving only a small amount of hair covering his chin. Stratos's helmet had also been changed from his usual red helmet to one dark blue in color. But the most striking difference was the color of Stratos's body feathers, instead of their normal grey color the feathers were now dyed a golden color. "Remember for the moment Avion is under the control of Spikor and Clawful, not to mention several squads of Doom Troopers and Sky Centurions. We have to be thankful that they think I have been captured otherwise they would have levelled this city to find me." Stratos looked down at the holographic image that ran constantly day and night. "How are the preparations going?"

"They are going well," reported Raven. "The Evil Warriors either don't know that several Heroic Warriors have escaped or they are choosing to ignore the possibility of them being a threat."

"And what about the Wiget's fortress?" asked Stratos.

"Orko's magic continues making anyone that comes near the fortress believe that it has been abandoned," said Raven. "I'm surprised at how powerful his magic is."

Stratos nodded his head.

"It is always a surprise just how much a situation like this brings a person's true abilities to the surface," said Stratos. "I wouldn't be surprised if Orko turned out to be one of Eternia's most powerful magicians."

Suddenly the small communicator inside Raven and Stratos's ear began to buzz. Putting a finger to their ears both Birdmen opened a link to the other end of the communicator.

"We have some good news and some bad." said the voice of Sensear, the Heroic Warriors master of communication.

"Go ahead." said Stratos.

"We have managed to free some more of our warriors as they were being transported to Snake Mountain," reported Sensear. "They should be arriving at the Wiget fortress at any moment. However I've picked up a transmission from Grayskull. It says they are nearing to closing in on He-man and the others who escaped."

"Will this affect our plans?" said Stratos.

"I shouldn't think so." replied Sensear.

"He-man can take care of himself," said Stratos reluctantly. "We have to what we can to defeat Skeletor."

**_Castle Grayskull_**

**__**

Sonik walked in to the throne room of the ancient castle. Sat in the throne still as a statute was Skeletor and next to him imprisoned in a cage of pure energy was the Sorceress. 

"What have you to report?" snarled Skeletor as Sonik knelt before him. "Please don't tell me more Heroic Warriors have escaped."

"No My Lord," replied Sonik. "I have good news. Our scientists have picked up the signal patterns similar to that used by the Cosmic Key."

Skeletor was suddenly very interested by what Sonik had to say.

"Where was this detected?" asked Skeletor.

Sonik pressed a button on his belt and a large holographic image appeared in front of him. The image was of a strange star system that Skeletor had never seen before.

"The signal seems to be coming from the third planet in the solar system," said Sonik as the image quickly zoomed in on the third planet, a small blue orb with patches of green land scattered across its surface. "Our databases catalogue it as being called....."

"Earth." Skeletor finished for Sonik.

"You know of this planet?" said Sonik.

"Of cause I do," replied Skeletor. "My constant battle with He-man has taken me to that planet at least twice. It is a primitive planet inhabited by savages. I'm constantly amazed that they had the technology to create the vessel that brought Queen Marlena here."

"Shall I order an invasion force?" said Evil-Lyn as she walked in to the room.

"No," replied Skeletor. "It may be a trap to lure our warriors away from Eternia and leave our defences weakened for attack. I believe stealth is in order. Send a small group of warriors and Doom Troopers to bring the key back."

Evil-Lyn nodded and left the room to follow Skeletor's orders.

**_Earth_**

Kevin and Julie entered the high school's gym. It was decorated for the ball which Kevin's band was going to play in. As Julie marvelled at the decorations Kevin raced to the stage and walked up to the microphone. Testing to make sure the mic was working Kevin held up the strange sympathizer.

"Now to see how this baby sounds ampped up." said Kevin.

Kevin's fingers danced over the keys which sent notes flowing from the sympathizer and through the mic. Julie applauded and Kevin continued Kevin's hand then passed over the large red key near the base of the sympathizer. Suddenly the sympathizer came to life in Kevin's hands. Startled Kevin dropped the sympathizer and miraculously it landed on its base. The red key began to glow and the prong like objects on top of the sympathizer began to turn and the large prong in the middle began to rise out of its base.

"That is so cool!" gasped Kevin.

Julie was about to ask if it was safe when a flash of light shot out from the tips of the prongs. Each beam of then began to swirl around each other as a mystical tune floated in the air.

Kevin carefully stepped up to the sympathizer and reached out and pressed the red key again. Instantly the music and the light vanished and the sympathizer returned to its normal shape.

Kevin stared at it in amazement before he picked it up.

"This will make a brilliant finisher for tonight," said Kevin. "But first I'm going to have to make sure it won't burn out our equipment."

"How are you going to do that?" asked Julie.

"I'll take it over to Charlie's," said Kevin. "If he doesn't know about this then it isn't worth knowing. Will you wait here until I get back?"

"Of cause," replied Julie. "I want to say goodbye to this place."

Kevin leaned over and kissed Julie.

"I won't be long," said Kevin. "And besides if there's any trouble Carl the caretaker is here."

Kevin kissed Julie once more before leaving for Charlie's Music Store.

**_Castle Grayskull_**

**__**

Sonik walked in to the throne room once more.

"Lord Skeletor," said Sonik. "We have a clearer location of the Cosmic Key."

"Good," replied Skeletor clearly pleased by Sonik's report. "Now bring Evil-Lyn in here."

Sonik pressed a button on his belt. Seconds later Evil-Lyn walked in to the throne room followed by four other warriors.

"I have gathered four of your finest warriors," reported Evil-Lyn. "Karg, your master of your Doom Troopers. Blade, the master swordsman. Saroud, the deadly cybernetic Snakeman, and of cause Beastman, the evil master over animals."

"Hmmm an interesting quartet to say the least," said Skeletor as he inspected the four warriors. "You are to go to Earth and bring back the Cosmic Key."

"What about the Heroic Warriors?" asked Blade.

"If they stand in the way," said Skeletor. "Destroy them."

The four warriors nodded their understanding and followed Sonik out of the room.

"And what shall we do about the escaped Heroic Warriors?" asked Evil-Lyn.

"We have to keep up our pretence of all the Heroic Warriors being captured," said Skeletor thoughtfully. "Otherwise the people will have that little spark of hope and that is something I shall not allow to happen. Send Tri-Klops, Trap-Jaw and Ninjor along with a squadron of Doom Troopers. Have them seek out these escaped warriors and have them recaptured."

"As you wish." said Evil-Lyn who then turned and left the room as well. 

To Be Continued.......


	4. Chapter 4

**_Masters of the Universe: The Movie: Continued _**

****

**_Earth_**

**__**

Julie looked at her watch. Kevin had been away for longer than he had said he would. 

In the back Carl the school caretaker swept the corridors.

'_I don't know why I'm doing this,_' thought Carl to himself. '_It'll be a state as soon as everyone gets here for the ball. Then I'll have to sweep up all over again._'

Carl put his brush to one side and reached in to one of the pockets of his overalls. Carl then pulled out his lighter and a packet of cigarettes. Carl knew that if anyone caught him he'd face the sack, but no one was around so he removed a cigarette and lit the lighter. As the flame came to life it began to flicker and Carl felt a strong breeze coming down the corridor. Turning Carl saw a empty can rolling its way towards him.

"What the Hell!" said Carl as he shoved the cigarette and lighter in to his pocket.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and a group of beings that Carl had never imagined before stepped from the light and in to the corridor.

Beastman was the first to step from the portal quickly followed by Blade, Karg, Saroud and six Doom Troopers.

The instant the portal had closed Karg began barking orders to his Doom Troopers.

"I want the area secure," Karg ordered the Doom Troopers. "Prevent anyone from getting in or out. We will search for the key."

"What the Hell are you?!" Beastman heard someone shout.

Beastman's head snapped around and he saw a human standing in the corridor. 

Carl slowly reached for his brush not really sure what he was going to do against these invaders. Believing that the man was a threat Beastman leaped at him. Carl let out a startled scream as Beastman's huge body crashed in to him. Carl threw a weak punch at Beastman, the blow struck Beastman in the face but it had no effect. Beastman grabbed Carl by the front of his overalls and threw him in to the air. Beastman then slammed Carl to the ground and raked his claws across his face. Carl screamed as Beastman's claws tore apart his body.

Julie heard a noise outside the doors to the gym. Putting down the yearbook that she had found Julie turned to the doors.

"Kevin is that you?" called out Julie. When she got no reply except more strange noises from behind the doors. "Carl! Carl are you there?"

Suddenly the doors to the gym shattered as the battered and bloody body of Carl was thrown through it. Instantly Beastman leaped through and grabbed Carl by the neck and was about to deliver a killing blow when Karg stepped in to the gym.

"WAIT!" called out Karg.

Beastman's head snapped around to face Karg.

"Why?" growled Beastman. "He had a weapon. He was going to attack."

"We need him alive," said Karg sternly. "He may know where the key is located."

Beastman sighed and dropped Carl's bloody body to the floor. As Carl hit the floor with a sickening thud Julie let out an uncontrollable scream, which alerted both Beastman and Karg to her presence. Both Blade and Saroud had heard the scream and raced in to the gym.

"GET HER!!" commanded Karg. 

Blade instantly raised his right arm and prepared to shoot Julie as she ran. As Blade pressed the trigger to fire a set of darts Karg pushed Blade's arm out of the way causing the darts to narrowly miss their target.

"What did you do that for?" snarled Blade. "I had her in my sights."

"You would have killed her," replied Karg. "We need her if we are to find the key." 

Julie ran to the stage as fast as she could. Closing in behind her were Beastman and Saroud. Julie leaped on to the stage narrowly avoiding the razor sharp claws of Beastman.

"Saroud you take that side," commanded Beastman pointing to one end of the stage. "Stop her if she comes that way."

The cybernetic Snakeman nodded and raced to the right of the stage. Beastman quickly headed for the left.

Julie thought Hell had opened up as she raced across the stage. She could see the two monsters heading in different directions. Then she saw the one-eyed human coming straight for her. All of a sudden Julie hit the back of the stage. Julie franticly pushed her way through the curtain to the stage exit. As she leaped down the small steps behind the stage she quickly turned and ducked under the stage. As she crawled under the almost pitch black stage she could still hear the sound of her attackers getting closer. Blade used the thermal imager built in to his eye patch to track Julie's body heat.

"I've got you now!" hissed Blade as he drew his twin swords from their scabbards strapped to his back. Blade then drove the swords down in to the wooden boards of the stage. The swords pierced the stage and struck the ground inches from Julie's face.

Julie backed away from the swords as fast as she could. Suddenly she felt a hand grab her leg. Julie was then dragged kicking from under the stage.

"Come here my pretty!" snapped Karg raising his hooked arm. 

Julie could see a sparkling blue light coming from the tip of the hook.

Julie kicked out as Karg reached down with his hook. The kick struck Karg in the jaw. Karg stunned and surprised by the blow lost his grip on Julie. Julie quickly scrambled to her feet an attempted to make a run for her life. Looking over her shoulder at the snarling Karg and the fast approaching Blade Julie failed to see the huge body of Beastman before it was too late. Julie thudded in to Beastman who grabbed her in his massive arms and lifted her off the ground.

"You will not escape Beastman!" he snarled baring his savage set of teeth.

Julie wanted to scream but her air was cut off by Beastman's powerful arms squeezing her. As Julie began to loose her focus and begin to black out she spotted Carl's cart of cleaning equipment. Even though Beastman was shaking her like a grizzly bear with a rag doll Julie reached out for the cart. Twice her hand missed the cart, but when she felt herself starting to pass out her hand latched on to something. Julie didn't care what it was all she cared about was how hard she could strike Beastman with it. She swung the object with the last amount of strength she could muster and it smashed against the side of Beastman's head. Beastman screamed as the contents of the object splashed all over one half of his face. In pain Beastman let Julie drop to the floor. As Julie hit the floor she realized just what she had hit her attacker with, it was a bottle of highly concentrated bleach. Shaking of her dizziness Julie scrambled to her feet before Beastman could recover from her attack. Ducking Beastman's blind shots Julie started towards the emergency exit from the gym. As she got near to the door she heard a metallic hissing sound from behind her. Looking over her shoulder she saw Saroud the cybernetic Snakeman glaring at her. Without saying a word Saroud reared his head back and then spat a stream of red and yellow sparking energy her way. Julie ducked and the sparks struck the doors behind her. The instant the sparks hit the doors they erupted in flames blocking her escape. 

Beyond the point of being scared Julie raced over to the stage and ripped down a large piece of curtain that hung over the window nearest to the stage. Wrapping the curtain around herself to protect her from the flames Julie raced to the burning doors. Karg saw what Julie was about to do and ran across the gym to block her path. Julie ignored the figure in front of her and kept on running as fast as she could. As she reached the doors Julie closed her eyes and slammed in to Karg. Julie barely felt hitting Karg or the momentum as it carried her along with Karg crashing through the burning doors to the cold hard pavement outside. Karg and Julie both got up at the same time. Karg snatched at the burning curtain that covered Julie. Julie quickly threw off the curtain in to Karg's face. Karg screamed in pain as the burning curtain caught him in the face. While Karg was momentary blinded Julie made her escape in to the darkness.

Beastman, Blade and Saroud came charging from the gym. The six Doom Troopers that Karg had placed outside to guard the building came rushing from around the building and towards their fallen commander.

"Don't worry about me!" snapped Karg as Blade and Saroud tried to help him to his feet. "Capture the little bitch!"

"You two with me!" Blade ordered two of the Doom Troopers.

The mindless cyborgs said nothing and followed Blade. Beastman and Saroud took the other Doom Troopers and closely followed another track with Beastman using his animal like senses to try and pick up the scent of the fleeing Julie.

**_Nearby_**

**__**

So far there had been no trace of the Cosmic Key. Teela had kept in radio contact but she reported the same thing, same with Gwildor. The only one who hadn't been in contact yet was He-man, but Man-At-Arms knew that there wasn't any problem that the champion of Eternia couldn't handle, even on Earth.

As Man-At-Arms turned a corner he came up on a deserted street. Concentrating on his tracking devise he failed to notice three men appear behind him from a nearby ally.

The first man, a tall powerful man dressed in bikers leather reached in to his pocket and removed a large switch-blade knife. He then turned his head and nodded to the other two who were dressed similar to him and then back to Man-At-Arms.

"Hey! Sir Lancelot you're a bit far from Camelot." called out the man. His partners let out a menacing laugh at their leader's comments.

Even though he didn't know who Sir Lancelot or what was Camelot Man-At-Arms recognized an insult when he heard one.  Slowly Man-At-Arms turned to face the men.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" asked Man-At-Arms pretending to be polite, but all the time using all his soldier's training to assess the situation.

"You sure can," said the leader. "This is Black Widow turf. We don't like outsiders you see, but we aren't animals so we offer them a choice."

"And that choice would be?" asked Man-At-Arms.

"The choice is. You either pay our toll for being on our turf or....." to make his point clear the leader looked downward. Man-At-Arms followed his gaze and saw the tip of the blade pressed against his chest armor. "Or we will open you up like a tin can."

Man-At-Arms didn't have to look to know that five more 'Widows' had come out of hiding behind him.

"I don't think my money would be any use to you," said Man-At-Arms telling the truth as the only currency he had on him were a dozen or so Eternian gold coins. "So I guess it will have to be the second option."

The man grinned a broad smile showing half a dozen gold capped teeth.

"I hoped you would say that." snarled the man as he drove the knife forward.

The blade struck Man-At-Arms's and snapped. The man was enraged and with a silent signal to the others he ordered them to attack.

Teela had given up on searching for Gwildor. She had last seen the Thenubrian near a large area containing the remains of what passed as vehicles on Earth. Gwildor had argued that their search for the Cosmic Key would go faster if they had transport. Teela had replied by telling Gwildor that they didn't have time to repair one of the broken vehicles, and stealing one of the many they had seen parked along nearly every street would bring them to the attention of the Earth law enforcement. Teela had only turned her back for a second but when she turned back Gwildor had vanished in to the piles of vehicles calling out.

"I can fix these. It will be easy.....I think."

Teela decided that the search for the Cosmic Key was far more important than chasing after Gwildor and continued on with her search. It was nearing the time for her to meet up with the others. She hoped that they had better success in finding the key than she had. Switching her tracker from searching for the key Teela changed the settings to locate either He-man or Man-At-Arms. A red dot indicating Man-At-Arms's location began flashing telling Teela that her farther was only a couple of streets away.

Man-At-Arms had already knocked out two of his attackers. The rest had grown wise and started trying to attack from several directions. While it  was a good strategy the Black Widows could cope with Man-At-Arms's years of combat experience. As Man-At-Arms battered away another attack, taking two more 'Widows' down with his battle mace, Teela came running around the corner.

"Do you need any help?" asked Teela as Man-At-Arms grabbed one of the 'Widows' in a headlock.

"Why?" asked Man-At-Arms as he knocked out the thug with a blow to the jaw. Man-At-Arms turned and lifted another thug in to the air and slammed him to the ground. "These wouldn't even be a challenge to the Eternos Law Enforcement Office."

Teela had to chuckle at her father's comment. It was a long running rivalry between the Royal Guards and the officers of the E.L.E.O and each year they faced each other annually in a contest to see just who was the better team. Teela hoped that they would be able to have the contest this year. Turning her attention back to her farther Teela saw that he had defeated all but one of his attackers. Realizing that he was no match for Man-At-Arms quickly turned and ran, however his direction took him towards Teela.

"Get out of my bitch!" snarled the man as he flashed a large knife at her.

Unaffected by the man's threat, Teela grabbed her fighting staff and in one quick blinding movement extended the staff to its full length and span around. The staff hit the man squarely in the jaw and he was thrown off his feet and crashed to the ground hard.

"What shall we do with these savages?" asked Teela as she dragged the fallen man over to the others.

There's not much we can do," said Man-At-Arms. "Except let the law enforcers on this planet deal with them in their own way."

**_Eternia: The Wigets Fortress_**

**__**

Battle Cat prowled the courtyard of the Wigets Fortress. Raven along with Man-E-Faces and Stratos had ventured out to free some more Heroic Warriors in order to strengthen there assault on Snake Mountain. However their return was long overdue and this unsettled Battle Cat greatly. In the back the only other member of the Heroic Warriors was Orko. The little magician had grown extremely tired as the constant use of his magic to divert any attention from Skeletor's forces away from the small fortress wore him out. At first Orko had refused to go in to the back and rest, that was until Battle Cat threatened him and then Orko couldn't be stopped from rushing in to the back.

Suddenly Battle Cat's attention was turned back to outside the fortress walls. Battle Cat sniffed the air and using his powerful sense of smell picked up the sent of Doom Troopers head towards the fortress. Battle Cat instantly readied himself for battle. The scent was getting closer. Battle Cat let out a low growl as the gates to the fortress slowly opened to reveal Stratos and the others. Battle Cat let out a sign.

"Where have you been?" growled Battle Cat. "And why is it that I can smell the stench of Doom Troopers?"

"We had a little problem with our rescue mission," said Stratos. "The transporter we targeted was a decoy. There was no Heroic Warriors on board only a squadron of Doom Troopers led by Webstor. As you can guess we narrowly escaped."

"So we have to abandon our attack on Snake Mountain?" said Battle Cat not liking the idea.

"Not necessarily," said Raven as he walked up to Battle Cat. Battle Cat noticed that Raven was carrying something under his are. Then Battle Cat saw what it was. It was a helmet of a Doom Trooper. "We managed to salvage several suits we can use them to get us in to Snake Mountain."

"A nice idea but exactly how are going to get to Snake Mountain?" said Battle Cat. "Snake Mountain is pretty far from here. And we have no means of travel that won't get shot down before we get near."

"We have that covered," said Man-E-Faces holding out a holopad for Battle Cat to see. "As we retreated we stumbled up on a lost transporter. It was empty and we were able to defeat the Doom Troopers on board."

Battle Cat's spirits lifted, for the first time he felt that they had a chance at striking back at Skeletor and his forces. 

"We need someone to pose as a prisoner so that Man-E-Face, Mekaneck, myself and Raven can get inside Snake Mountain." said Stratos.

"And who will act as the prisoner?" asked Battle Cat.

"Well whoever it is has to be a highly valuable catch for them to accept only one prisoner." said Stratos. "All we have to do is work out just who is that valuable to Skeletor."

Without answering each of the Heroic Warriors turned to look directly at Battle Cat. 

**_Earth_**

**__**

He-man's search had led him from the wooded area they had landed in to a large built up area. He-man wondered at the style of the buildings that the people of this planet preferred. Their square blocky shapes were alien to any building found on Eternia. As He-man walked down the street he spotted a group of people up ahead. Quickly ducking in to the shadows to avoid being spotted He-man waited until they had passed. He-man was about to continue his search when he heard a scream. He-man turned. The scream had come from behind a block of buildings. 

Julie was gasping for breath as she ran. There was no sight of her attackers but she knew that they could catch up to her at any moment; she had to find somewhere to hide. As she turned down a passage way she heard the roar of Beastman. Hearing the roar Julie pushed herself harder. Suddenly she ran in to a chain-link fence. Behind the fence was a storage yard full crates and racks of building equipment. Franticly Julie searched the fence for a way in to the yard.

He-man quickly raced passed the buildings to a large area behind. The area was surrounded by a large fence. Through the links in the fence He-man saw a woman looking scared out of her wits. He-man realized that it was the woman's scream he had heard. 

As Julie searched blindly for a way in to the storage yard she heard footsteps getting closer. Julie span around and crashed straight in to He-man. Believing that her attackers had caught up with her Julie lashed out in blind panic. He-man blocked her blows and when Julie realized that she wasn't being attacked she looked up through tear filled eyes and saw that the person she had crashed in to was different from the other's.

"It's Ok," said He-man in a soothing voice. "You're safe now. Tell me what's wrong."

"T-T-These monsters attacked Carl," said Julie still shaking. "N-N-Now they're after me."

"Can you tell me what they look like?" asked He-man suspecting that he wouldn't like the answer.

"There was four of them," said Julie. "One was huge with fur all over his body, he was like a bear. The second one had one eye and he carried two swords, the third was covered in metal and spat electricity from his mouth. The last was a short horrible looking creature with white hair and a hook for a hand."

He-man instantly recognized who Julie had described.

"Do you know who they are?" asked Julie.

"I'm afraid I do," replied He-man. He then turned and found the gate to the storage yard. He-man easily broke the chain that held the gate shut and turned back to Julie. "Quickly hide in here I'll take care of the other's."

Julie quickly raced in to the yard. He-man then pulled the gate closed and using his powerful strength He-man crushed the gate so that it couldn't be opened. Once the gate was secure He-man followed Julie in to the yard.

Blade's thermal scanner picked up Julie's trail easily. With his two Doom Troopers following closely he gave chase. Beastman and Saroud weren't to far behind as Beastman's senses picked up the scent of Julie's fear.

"When we get the key I shall gut that woman for what she has done to me!" snarled Beastman as he rubbed the area that was struck by the bleach that Julie had thrown at him.

Saroud silently looked over at him. The fur where the bleach had struck had lost all it color and turned white, while the exposed skin looked like it was burnt. Saroud knew that Beastman was in a great amount of pain from his injuries but he also knew that the pain was being held down by the rage running through his body.

Beastman suddenly stopped.

"I smell something familiar." growled Beastman.

Saroud was about to use his built in sensors to locate just what Beastman had picked up when Blade cam racing around the corner.

"She is close," said Blade as he scanned the area. "I can feel it," Then he picked up the trail again. "This way she's in here."

Blade had pointed to the fenced off storage yard. The three Evil Warriors raced over to the fence while the Doom Troopers signalled their location to Karg.

Once Karg had arrived Blade unsheathed one of his deadly swords and slashed the fence open. Pulling back the chain-link fence Blade watched as the others and the Doom Troopers swarmed in to the storage yard.

Deep in the heart of the storage yard He-man had found a hiding place for Julie.

"Stay here and you should be safe." said He-man.

Julie had gotten over her shock about what was going on and turned to He-man. It was then she realized that He-man was dressed like no one she could think of on the entire planet."

"Those things aren't from Earth are they?" asked Julie. He-man shook his head. "And nether are you."

He-man realized that there was no way to conceal the truth from her. So he told Julie the truth.

"I'm from a planet far away from here. It is called Eternia." said He-man.

"And why are you here?" said Julie.

"Its a long story," said He-man. "But I along with three others came here by accident. Those that attacked you are after the one thing that can get us home."

Julie's mind suddenly conjured an image of the object that she and Kevin had found in the cemetery.

"Does this thing have a lot of keys all over it with one large red button near its base?" asked Julie. "And when you press that red button these strange lights appear and there is some kind of music playing?"

"That's the Cosmic Key," said He-man thanking the Elders of Grayskull for his stroke of luck. "Can you....."

He-man's question was cut off as he heard the sound of many footsteps nearby. He-man removed his blaster from his belt and handed it to Julie.

"If anyone finds you use this." said He-man.

Julie looked at the blaster in her hands for a second and then tried to hand it back.

"I can't," said Julie. "I hate guns."

"Its OK," said He-man. "Its set for stun. So if you do need to use it the blast will only knock your target out for a while."

Julie looked at the blaster again. She was still hesitant over taking the weapon but then she looked up at He-man and decided that he was telling the truth and her hesitation disappeared and she once again took the blaster.

Once he was sure that Julie was as safe as she could be He-man slowly crept out of their hiding place and began his search for the Evil Warriors.

To Be Continued..........


End file.
